Piano Sonata (Berg) - Composition and Structure

Composition and Structure

The sonata is not in the typical classical form of three or four contrasting movements, but consists of a single movement centered in the key of B minor. Berg originally intended for the Sonata to be a more traditional multi-movement work, the opening movement followed by a slow movement and a finale. However, for a long period he lacked any ideas for these other movements. Berg turned to Schoenberg, who commented that the lack of inspiration meant that ' ... had said all there was to say'. Following Schoenberg's advice, Berg decided to publish the finished movement and let it stand by itself.

Although the piece has the nominal key of B minor, Berg makes frequent use of chromaticism, whole-tone scales, and wandering key centers, giving the tonality a very unstable feel, which only resolves in the final few bars. The structure of the piece is traditional sonata form, with an exposition, development and recapitulation; however, the composition also relies heavily on Arnold Schoenberg's idea of "developing variation", a method to ensure the unity of a piece of music by deriving all aspects of a composition from a single idea. In this case, much of the composition can be traced back to the two opening gestures.